Summer Sisters

An adolescent's mind can be a numbingly narcissistic and narrow-minded place, but it's sad to relive these memories via Blume, an author who — with such teenage-targeted books as 1972's Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret and 1975's Forever — was instrumental in making a generation feel good about feeling bad. Unfortunately, in this adult novel about the summer friendship of two girls, Blume never delves beneath the banalities of adolescent angst and misses any subtleties of character that might make reliving the time seem poignant rather than painful. Summer Sisters, a glossy, ultimately forgettable beach read suggests that Blume is going through an awkward phase of her own. C+